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10.07

What IEEE Membership Means to Me

By Abby Vogel

IEEE-USA sponsored me for a 2005 AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellowship and I’m still trying to repay them. Spending the summer of 2005 as a science reporter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch guided me toward my future career. IEEE-USA helped me realize my future, and my IEEE membership means volunteering to help current and future engineers realize theirs.

IEEE and IEEE-USA sponsor many activities that show young children that engineering is cool. Every February, IEEE-USA participates in the Future City Competition by having IEEE members judge each student group’s communications system. As a judge for this year’s competition, I was very impressed with the seventh- and eighth-grade students’ original, innovative ideas. The winning school’s communications system featured a wireless, voice-activated device that could be worn on jewelry, clothing or accessories. Spending the day talking about engineering to such young students brought me immense joy. You can volunteer to help a Future City team in your local community, simply visit www.futurecity.org to find out how.

IEEE sponsors Design Squad, a television show created to pique interest in engineering concepts and challenges for children ages 9 to 13. The series features two teams of real-life high-school students (in collaboration with two 20-something engineer hosts) who use their problem-solving skills to design, construct and test engineering projects. I was able to participate in a training session earlier this year and learn how to complete fun Design Squad-like activities with children in my local community. Visit pbskids.org to get a project book that contains activities you can do with your children or at a local school.

Another way I’m giving back is by serving on the committee that selects the IEEE-USA-sponsored AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering fellows. Summer of 2006 fellows were placed at the Chicago Tribune and Sacramento Bee, and the summer of 2007 fellow worked at Scientific American. You can never have too many engineers in the world who have the ability to communicate science to others. Visit www.ieeeusa.org/communications/massmedia.asp to read about previous IEEE-USA Mass Media Fellows or to get information about how to apply to the program.

There are so many opportunities for you to volunteer in your local community to teach the engineers of today and tomorrow. Give back in honor of those that helped you succeed as an engineer and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Abby Vogel is a member of IEEE-USA's Communications Committee, career policy editor for IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer and a communications officer at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org. Opinions expressed are the author's.